Convicted crack dealer charged with Dorchester barbershop murder

Boston Police report arresting a Canton man for a double shooting inside a Foir Corners barbershop that left Elijah Ricardo Clunie, 20, of Dorchester, dead.

Police say Diamond Jose Brito, 32, formerly of Roxbury but now living in Canton, walked into the Exclusive Barber Shop, 184 Washington St. around 12:55 p.m. on Sept. 2 and opened fire.

At his arraignment in Dorchester Municipal Court this morning, Brito was ordered held without bail on the murder charge. He was also formally charged with various gun offenses and with using a firearm with at least three prior convictions for violent or drug crimes.

Police say fugitive-unit officers from BPD, State Police and the US Marshal's Service arrested Brito at 10 Temple St. in Mattapan Thursday night, after BPD obtained an arrest warrant in Dorchester court.

Brito, who has a criminal record dating to his teens, was convicted of kidnapping and armed robbery in Norfolk County in 2013, according to federal court filings.

In 2017, a federal judge sentenced him to eight years in prison after he pleaded guilty to crack dealing in Nubian Square and being a felon in possession of a firearm. With credit for time he spent locked up awaiting trial, he was released in February of this year and started four years of probation, and was barred from entering the area around the Orchard Park development in Roxbury - where federal prosecutors say he was an associate of the Orchard Park Trailblazers gang. He was also barred from associating with several specific people who had been identified as members of the gang.

In a sentencing recommendation in the federal case, prosecutors said they hoped drug treatment Brito would get while in prison "will help the defendant to make better choices in the future."

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